Hedge and lawn clipper



Aug.25,1936.' B H KAPLAN 2,051,862

" HEDGE ANDLAWN CLIPEER Y Filed Jan. 28, 1935 1N VENTOR,

BER/vano H Kn PLAN ATTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. Z5, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HEDGE AND LAWN CLIPPER Bernard H. Kaplan, Fairfax, Calif.

Application January 28, 1935, Serial No. 3,691

8 Claims.l (Cl. Sti-237i This invention relates to apparatus for clipping hedges and lawns and has for its objects improvements in such apparatus in which double reciprocating blades are used. so as to effectively trim or clip the heavy twigs of a hedge and a mounting and means of operating the blades on: a power mower whereby the side of the hedge or the top of the hedge may be quickly clipped to a flat sur-- face, also such an apparatus in which the blades l0 may be raised or lowered to suit hedges of various heights, also a blade action and'construction with a cutter using two flat saw-steel blades working against one another and which may easily be removed for sharpening, also such a construction which is valuable for use in cutting grass. Other features of advantages will appear in "the following description and accompanyingfdrawing.

In the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 is vertical end elevation of myapparatus mounted on a power mower arranged to clip the top of a hedge, parts .of the apparatus being shown in section to show the internal construction.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the cutter and its supporting and driving connections. Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing the blades andk drivingY pinion.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged crossfsection of Fig. 2

taken along the lined-4 thereof. v

Fig. 5 is an elevation showing my reciprocating blade assembly mounted in'vertical position on the side of a power mower for clipping the side of a hedge. l

. Fig. 6 is aY plan view showing the adaptation A,of my reciprocating blade assembly to a manually operated lawn mower. l

Briefly stated, my invention comprises a special reciprocating toothed blade assembly. 'and its operative mounting. For hedge clipping the blade assemblyis mounted on the side of portable power plant either gasoline or electric driven,

such as provided'in most any of -the powerlawn mowers, and in detail not particularly concerned with the present invention except'that it should Cil have an available proieeting power ,shaft at one side for operating my blades.

In the drawing the power mower or other portable power plant is indicated at I, its ground rollers being shown at 2, and, rwhen used, its guiding handles as at 3. v

It will, of course, be understood that the power plant may be of almost any design as itis not a part of the present invention except in broad combination to supply the power, and whether -a man guides it by handles, or rides on it, or

whether it is propelled by any particular form, Q;

Vthe blades are resiliently pressed together by power, isV immaterial, though if a conventional power lawn mower is used as' the portable power plant or tractor, its lawn cutting blades will of course be lifted or removed.

The portable power plant should have a power 5 .shaft 4 projecting from its side provided'with the usual controls (not shown) for starting or stopping it at will, and when using the apparatus for clipping the top of the hedge as in Figs. l and 2, the shaft 4 will have a bevel gear 5 secured to its free end. This gear 5 meshes with a smaller :bevel gear 6 mounted on a vertical shaft 1 sup ported in bearings 8, 9 carried'in a Vvertical tubular housing 'I9 detachably bolted to the power plant as indicated. 15 Extending upwardly from-within housing vIll is a cylindrical upper housing or extension columnII which is vertically slidable inthelower housing and carries at its upper end a horizontally extending arm I 2 detachably secured thereto 20 and which supports the flat cutting blades I3,v I4 and their reciprocatory driving connection. Column II may be rigidly clamped `at any 'point of extension in housing I0 by means of a' clamping bolt I5 near. the upper end of the housing which 25 is provided with lugs to receive the bolts and is split as at I6' to provide the slight clamping flexibility.

Vertical shaft 1 is splined as atIl and telescopically fitting over it is a tubular extension 30 shaft I8 passing upward through a' bearing surface at the upper end of column II and fitted on top with a small crank disk AIl) lprovided vwith a crank pin 20 to Whichthe driving rod 2| for the blades is pivoted. 35 The blades `I3 and I4 are two flat pieces of saw steel `lying one upon vthe other and formed with matchingteeth 2|, 22 along their forward edges and sharpened at both sides. The form of the teleth for hedge clipping purposes is preferably 40 as shown in F'ig.V 2 and wherein the tips 23 of the teeth are pointed and the spaces 24 are defined by substantially parallel Walls, so that as the blades are advanced and rapidly reciprocated, the hedge twigs will be warded intov the openings to 45 both sides of the points and by reason of the substantially parallel sides of the opening the twigs will not be ejected during the cutting actionv if the blades are slightly dull.

The blades are of the same size and shape, 50 merely being reversed with respect to their beveled sharpenedV edges and placed one onvtop of the other with the lower one resting `on bear- Aing pads 25 bolted to the supporting arm I2, and

means of a long thin spring metal bowed plate 26 adjustably bolted (as in loose holes) to arm I2, an oiling pad strip 2`| being advantageously positioned at the rear of the edge of the plate pressing on the upper blade. It is of course also understood that oil absorbent plugs or graphite depressions, not shown, may be inserted at random on the rubbing surfaces of the blades to facilitate keeping these surfaces as well as the surfaces of the pads lubricated, also that the pads 25 may be of any length or substantially continuous if desired, and also that any desired lubricating channels or oil cups may be providedr where desired.

'Ihe blades thus far described are resiliently held against one another, and with their rear edges against the forward finished surface of arm I2, and which provisions resist all stresses brought upon them during use. However, the blades are also prevented from being pulled out forwardly by the reciprocatory drive construction now to be described.

The reciprocatory drive comprises a pinion gear 28 engaged at opposite sides of its diameter with rack bars 29, 30 carried respectively by the two blades. Rack bar 29 is mounted on or formed with a pair of lugs 3| welded, riveted or screwed to the lower blade I4, While rack bar 3B is similarly made with lugs 32 secured to the upper blade I3, while the supporting bar I2 is finished and extends down in front of rack bar 30 thus locking blade I3 against forward removal, the pinion 28 of course preventing the lower blade from coming out.

The pinion has a hub or stub shaft 33 revolvably supported in a bearing 34 in a rack covering plate 35 bolted to supporting arm I2, and the pinion is covered below by a plate 36 held by screws at its edges to the lower edges of the arm I2 and plate 35.

The hub 33 of the gear is provided with a small crank 31 to which the outer end of pitman rod 2| is pivoted. Rod 2| is preferably provided with a spring section 2| or its equivalent so that it will yield in either direction in case a nail or stone got between the teeth of the blades while cutting. With the construction shown and explained the pinion and racks are enclosed and may therefore run in grease.

Inoperation, the portable power plant is guided along the hedge to be trimmed, either under power or manually, dependingon the completeness of the portable power plant or tractor, while the clipper power shaft 4 is set in motion. The speed of the shaft 4, size of the crank throw, etc., are all proportioned to yield a high rate of recip rocatory motion to the blades so that they will cut off the thickest twigs entering between their teeth. Plate 26 covers up the operative parts to a great extent so as to force most of the cuttings over the top of the bar I2.

When used to clip the vertical side of the hedge, bar I2 and its blade assembly are unbolted from column II, and the latter as well as housing I0 are removed. Gear 5 is replaced with crank disk I9 or its equivalent, and the arm I2 is positioned vertically and bolted to suitable lugs and braces 38 to the power plant as indicated in Fig. 5. For very high hedges, eXtra long blades may be used.

The same blade assembly made much smaller and shorter may be used as a lawn clipper by mounting in front of a pair of traction Wheels 39 as shown in Fig. 6, suitable auxiliary supporting rollers 40 also being provided. In this case the pitman rod 2| is operated by a crank 4| in turn revolved by a chain 42 passing over a sprocket carried by one of the traction wheels, and a oneway clutch is provided at 43 so that the blades will only operate when pushing forward.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that I have provided a very flexible machine which is well adapted for the several uses mentioned, also that while I have illustrated the one manner of carrying my invention into practice, it is evident that many modifications in the details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as may fall within the scope of my appended claims.

I claim:-

1. In a clipper of the character described, a pair of elongated clipping blades with teeth formed along one edge, said blades arranged in superimposed relation, means supporting and guiding the blades for longitudinal movement on one another, and means for reciprocating said blades including racks carried respectively by the blades and a pinion engaged at opposite sides respectively with said racks, a crank on said pinion, a pitman connected to said crank and power means for oscillating the pitman.

2. In a construction as speciiied in claim 1, said pitman including a spring section arranged and adapted to yield upon the teeth of the blade embracing a nail or stone.

3. In a clipper of the character described, a

pair of elongated clippingV blades with teeth formed along one edge, said blades arranged in superimposed relation, means supporting and guiding the blades for longitudinal movement on one another, means for reciprocating said blades including racks carried respectively by the blades and agpinion engaged at opposite sides vrespectively with said racks, and means for resiliently holding said blades in contact.

4. In a construction as defined in claim 3, the means for resiliently holding the blades in contact comprising a long sheet of metal spring bearing against one blade and forcing it toward the other.

5. In a clipper of the character described, a pair of elongated clipping blades with teeth formed along one edge, said blades arranged in superimposed relation, means for supporting and guiding the blades for longitudinal movement on one another, means for reciprocating said blades including racks carried respectively.. by the blades, a pinion engaged at opposite sides respectively with said racks, and means substantially enclosing said pinion and rack teeth forming a grease housing.

6. In aclipper of the character described, a pair of elongated clipping blades with teeth formed along one edge, said blades arranged in superimposed relation, means supporting and guiding the blades for longitudinal movement on one another, and means for reciprocating said blades including racks carried respectively by the blades, a pinion engaged at opposite sides respectively with said racks, means for oscillating said pinion including a resilient connection adapted to yield upon the teeth of the blades meeting an unyielding obstruction.

'7. In a clipper of the character described, a pair of elongated clipping blades with teeth formed along one edge, said blades arranged in superimposed relation, means supporting and guiding the blades for longitudinal movement on one lanother and means for reciprocating said blades including racks carried respectively by the blades, a pinion engaged at opposite sides respectively with said racks, the teeth of said blades being pointed at their ends to deflect vegetation to be clipped into both sides of the point, and the spaces between the teeth having substantially parallel cutting sides.

8. In a clipper of the character described, a pair of elongated clipping blades with teeth formed along one edge, said blades arranged in 10 superimposed relation, means supporting and guiding the blade for longitudinal movement on one another, means for reciprocating said blades including racks carried respectively by the blades and a. pinion engaged at opposite sides respectively With said racks, a resilient plate bearing against the upper blade tol hold the same resiliently against the lower blade, said plate formed as a guard to guide cuttings over said pinion and racks.

BERNARD I-I. KAPLAN. 

